India launches its most-advanced telecommunications satellite

Science News

Dec 22, 2005, 8:05 GMT

New Delhi - India's most advanced and powerful telecommunications satellite, Insat-4A, was successfully launched Thursday, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said. The Insat-4A, expected to revolutionize the direct to home television services (DTH) in the country, was launched by the European generic rocket Ariane 5G, from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana in the early hours of Thursday. The Indian National Satellite System or Insat is a series of multipurpose geo-stationary satellites developed by ISRO, India's premier space agency, to meet the country's telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search-and-rescue needs. 'With 12 high-power Ku-band transponders Insat-4A is the first satellite to meet the requirement of DTH television services, apart from carrying 12 C-band transponders to augment the INSAT capacity for communication and TV services,' the ISRO stated. ISRO scientists said the 12 Ku-band 36 MHz bandwidth high-powered transponders provide 140 to 150 DTH channels. The agency said initial checks after the launch indicated 'normal health' of the satellite. The Insat-4A, which is the first satellite in the seven satellite Insat-4 series, is India's heaviest satellite weighing 3,080 kilogrammes. ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair, who witnessed the launch, described it as 'a very important milestone' in the history of India's space agency. 'This is going to revolutionize the TV broadcasting directly to the homes and improve the entertainment scenario in India,' Nair was quoted by the PTI news agency as saying. © 2005 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Omprakash PandyaDec 22nd, 2005 - 21:24:35

We are proud of our scientist. This will help us to reach roots of India. Good entertaining programs help to improve efficiency at work. Due to recent growth and international exposer we need something to get relief of stress.

But we need to improve on our weather reports. It need to be more informative. And we should cover small town also.

I also welcome Indian great Bollywood directors to make cartoon film on our history. They should make serial on Ram, Hanuman, Krishna, Ashok, Gandhi jee etc…

Cheers.

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IndianDec 23rd, 2005 - 16:58:41

yes agreed, Indian telivision chanels needs to update their weather reporting capabilities.

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